English
morfa
Morfa comes from Welsh morfa ‘salt marsh’, from môr ‘sea’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *móri.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*móri‘sea’reconstructed
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*mori‘sea’reconstructed
- Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*mor‘sea’reconstructed
- Welshc. 1500–presentmôr‘sea’
- Welsh, derivedc. 1500–presentmorfa‘salt marsh’
- Englishearliest quotation 1947same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*móri‘sea’reconstructed
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*mori‘sea’reconstructed
- Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*mor‘sea’reconstructed
- Welshc. 1500–presentmôr‘sea’
- Welsh, derivedc. 1500–presentmorfa‘salt marsh’
- Englishearliest quotation 1947same form
Earliest quotation: 1947, James William Tutt, The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation: “[...] just inside the entrance to rabbits' burrows on…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘sea, lake, wetland’
remember, murder, nightmare, maritime, submarine, mortality, mara, immortal, mortal, muller, mortar, mariner, morbid, ambrosia, marshy, mortuary, marinara, mort, morn, moribund, cormorant, 56 more
through Proto-Indo-European *móri ‘sea’
march, marine, mere, marsh, mare, moor, marinate, maar, 16 more
Today it means
noun A low wetland periodically flooded by salt water; a salt marsh.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *móri / morfa